RIDING SCOOTERS IN KENNEBUNKPORT

You guys are probably not going to believe this after you read this story, but I used to be quite a thrill seeking, adventurist. I'm talking sky-diving (as a teenager), ziplining, rollercoaster junkie. But I've grown older and wiser (read- more of a scaredy cat) over the years, and now I'm pretty particular about my activity choices.

We went to Kenenbunkport last summer. Kennebunkport is a quaint, gorgeous coastal town in Maine that I've been dreaming of for years. My complete guide of what to do in this town (preview- you're going to want to maximize your daylight hours, because the town shuts down pretty early), is coming very soon.

One day while visiting Kennebunkport, I wanted to surprise Paul with an activity specifically for him. My itineraries are usually chock full of (extremely fun) activities, but usually chosen with my own agenda in mind. While I did choose this activity, I only picked it because I knew it would be something Paul would absolutely love. I stumbled across the Scooter rental company while perusing various things we could do that day and Paul needed zero convincing of my new plan.

When we arrived, we were told that we would first receive a "lesson" on how to drive the scooters, followed by practice in the parking lot and being released into the streets of Kennebunkport. I wasn't nervous before the "lesson," but as soon as it started, I became panicked. He zoomed through the explanations of how to operate, steer, emergency break, etc the scooters and demonstrated on Paul's scooter (which was totally different from mine). After he went through his spiel, I stopped him to ask, "okay, how do I turn this on?" He showed me the controls on my scooter, and I made sure to ask many questions and clarify frequently.

After the basic operation bit, we started powering up the scooters and practicing in the parking lot. I was terrified during every moment of this "parking lot practice" experience. He pointed out an orange cone on the other end of the parking lot. We were to practice turning around the cone. i.e. making a super sharp u-turn basically around the orange cone, and then coming back to the starting point. I never did accomplish this task. As I would get close to the cone, fearing that my scooter would tip over, I was too scared to commit to the sharp turn with the steering control, so I would slow wayyy down and eventually just stop and put my feet on the ground to balance. After a couple of attempts, I realized a couple things. a) this was not going to be the lighthearted afternoon that I imagined and b) this entire experience was going to be bone chilling for me.

In an attempt to alleviate my fears, I asked the "trainer" if there was ANY way the scooter could just tip over. He did not assuage anything when he replied that typically they cannot tip over but if you're going really slowly around a turn, it is possible. Basically I wanted to punch this guy in the face.

So the scooter rental concierge left us to go out on our own shortly after. I never did nail any turn in that parking lot before heading out. I could not even begin to fathom driving that scooter out on the street with actual cars. My growing fears boiled over into a meltdown before ever leaving the parking lot. I begged Paul to let me just ride on his with him and he would drive us both. He lovingly, but firmly explained that sharing a single person scooter was not a possibility for us in that moment. We probably spent about 10 minutes in that parking lot with him talking me down from a ledge, reassuring me that it would be fine, and offering to return the scooters and skip the whole thing. I couldn't live with myself if I held us back from an activity Paul was so excited about, so I finally decided to get my shit together and brave it.

First of all, I'd like to say that once in the real world and streets of Kennebunkport, I never did have to actually make a sharp U-turn as we had been instructed to "practice" in the parking lot. The turns on the streets were much wider, and easier. Driving with cars was scary though, I can't deny that, even now. However, the view around the Kennebunkport was gorgeous, and we circled the beaches and the town a few times. There were times where I thought to myself "wow, I'm having fun," but I was still extremely nervous throughout the ride. Driving a tiny scooter in a street with cars will never not terrify me. Overall, the experience was enjoyable and I was proud of myself for overcoming a fear. Will I be buying a scooter anytime soon? Probably not. Was it an enjoyable, thrilling, worthwhile experience? Totally. Would I recommend renting scooters in Kennebunkport to travel around the town and beaches to see beautiful views at your own pace? Absolutely.

It was definitely one of the most memorable activities we did while in Kennebunkport and it was Paul's favorite thing that we did in all of Maine (we went to Portland, too).

Anyone been scooter riding?? Was it terrifying for you? or pure excitement? Let me know your thoughts and comments below! Has anyone been to Kennebunkport? Are you in love?